SOPHIA CHRISTIE

Brain Day at Kingston Grammar School - Dr Guy Sutton

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On Monday 9th January, Dr Guy Sutton (Honorary Consultant Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham Medical School) gave a series of lectures about the brain. They included talks about memory and synapses, damaged brains, schizophrenia, is there a criminal brain and finally a sheep’s brain dissection.

 

Visual Resources:

Dr Guy Sutton is a fascinating lecturer and his presentations appeal to A-Level students thinking about a career in Neuroscience. What makes his presentations so engaging is his enthusiasm for the subject and the visual ways that his presents each topic.

Guy has a background and keen interest in The Arts and made a point of making each slide visually interesting as well as informative. He used colourful images, visual demonstrations and videos to bring Neuroscience to life. He also used words such as ‘sculpt’ and ‘mosaic’ to describe the workings of the brain. It was clear that Art and Science could help to communicate each idea.

 

Dissection:

The dissection of the sheep’s brain was fascinating. What struck me most was how the brain was encased within the meninges. When the brain was removed from this translucent flexible membrane, what was left was an empty storage container, similar to my own artwork.

This structure had not occurred to me before. Displayed on its own, it seemed to symbolise everything that I had been considering about containment and memory loss. It still had the impression of the brain engraved on its surface suggesting what it had once contained, but its emptiness was deeply symbolic.